Saturday, April 25, 2009
Climb Every Mountain
This week went pretty fast. Being thrown under the bus can make time fly, I suppose.
OK, that's an unfair exaggeration, but it was a long week that left me little time for writing because I had to prepare most of my lessons on the fly. When I made it through last week without any lesson plans, I thought things would be different this week. The only difference was that I had already taught a few classes so I had a better idea of how to handle being underprepared...again. Yes, my Monday school must have been really impressed with how I handled myself last week, because this week they left me hanging again, forcing me to come up with another round of lessons on my own. Thursday was the same story in a different building, only in that school I had done absolutely nothing last week. We could have talked about materials or potential lessons, but instead I got a lot of "sorry we're not ready" apologies. Then I show up this week and they want everything right away.
There's a great line in Fight Club that seems eerily appropriate for describing how these elementary schools think about their English language education: "[it] exists only in the hours between when fight club starts and when fight club ends." Despite all the meetings and e-mails, despite the abundance of technology that allows these folks to communicate with one another (and with me!), it's clear to me that until I walk through the front door of their school each week, I do not exist. What other excuse could there be for them to accomplish absolutely nothing in an entire week between my visits?
Things ended up working out, thanks entirely to me. I feel like an ass even saying it like that, but what other way can I put it? If they're not going to help plan the lessons and they don't help teach the lessons, what other choice do I have? Should I just fail spectacularly once in the hopes that it might convince them to stop leaving everything up to me? Maybe my constant delivery of mediocrity is making them too comfortable. They don't need quality lessons because I'm giving them bland, good-enough lessons without all the bother of having a conversation with me beforehand or, you know, actually teaching their own students. Similarly, I don't want to turn into a proactive taskmaster, calling schools on my own time to convince them to do their jobs, because I assume that will make them do even less on their own. I genuinely believe at this point that there is an inverse relationship between the amount of effort I put in and their reciprocal behavior.
On Monday I have to go back to the tiny mountain school for the first time in over a year. As you might expect, the only I reason I knew I was going there was because I was nosy and I started asking a lot of questions about a note written on the blackboard at my regular Monday school. Turns out they've decided to alternate my lessons between the two schools. Why this information wouldn't be brought to my immediate attention, I have no idea. Again, the meeting took place when I wasn't around, so I did not exist at the time.
But hey, at least the week ended very well. Yesterday I went to the good school and we went on a field trip. The entire student body and a dozen teachers took a long walk up into the mountains and back again. We took frequent breaks, but we were definitely on our feet for at least four hours during the six and a half we were out of the building. I had a lot of fun and the whole outing reminded me of how good things can be when schools welcome me and treat me as a person. This is the same school that regularly invites me to after-work meals - there's one coming up this Tuesday, in fact.
It also helps that I have a very good relationship with the students at this school, although there were a few odd moments yesterday. More than one student expressed shock at hearing me speak Japanese. While I do try to speak as much English as possible in class (a luxury I have only when I get to be the assistant rather than the sole teacher), I have been eating lunch and playing outside with these kids for over a year. I don't use much English at all during those times, yet somehow they've managed to forget all about those Pokemon conversations we've had. There was also one kid who started calling me gaijin and I had to explain to him why that was rude. And the weirdest exchange of all came after one of the new first graders learned I was an American:
But kids will be kids, and I ain't mad at 'em. I figure each time we have to get to know each other over again, we get a little bit closer. I took lots of pictures of the excursion, both with my phone and my regular camera. The small images are visible on my twitpic page while an assortment of the larger ones are in this album on Facebook.
After that very physically demanding day, I went out after dinner to a pub quiz in Osaka. I had gone to a number of these in months past, though last night was my first in quite some time. Things got off to a really great start when I came up with a prize-winning team name. The theme was Australia and New Zealand, and the first thing I thought of was "A Dingo Ate My Kiwi." From there, things stayed solid with a round based entirely on guessing the titles of movies from "literal" drawings. For example, a jar of preserves in orbit = Space Jam. We faltered a bit on the later rounds, and half of our team vanished before the game ended (that happens to me a lot) but we still won with 27 of 42 possible points. The prize was a bottle of cider, but it didn't last because in an instant there were strangers eager to share a glass with me. It's not about the prize anyway, it was about having fun and having a couple drinks. Mission Totally Accomplished!
Took it very easy today, thanks in small part to a downpour that lasted well into the afternoon, but that's OK. I'm a bit pink from being in the sun anyway. I'll leave the house again tomorrow. Don't worry about me, by the way. I complain when things get rough around here but as yesterday shows, the highs more than make up for the lows.
OK, that's an unfair exaggeration, but it was a long week that left me little time for writing because I had to prepare most of my lessons on the fly. When I made it through last week without any lesson plans, I thought things would be different this week. The only difference was that I had already taught a few classes so I had a better idea of how to handle being underprepared...again. Yes, my Monday school must have been really impressed with how I handled myself last week, because this week they left me hanging again, forcing me to come up with another round of lessons on my own. Thursday was the same story in a different building, only in that school I had done absolutely nothing last week. We could have talked about materials or potential lessons, but instead I got a lot of "sorry we're not ready" apologies. Then I show up this week and they want everything right away.
There's a great line in Fight Club that seems eerily appropriate for describing how these elementary schools think about their English language education: "[it] exists only in the hours between when fight club starts and when fight club ends." Despite all the meetings and e-mails, despite the abundance of technology that allows these folks to communicate with one another (and with me!), it's clear to me that until I walk through the front door of their school each week, I do not exist. What other excuse could there be for them to accomplish absolutely nothing in an entire week between my visits?
Things ended up working out, thanks entirely to me. I feel like an ass even saying it like that, but what other way can I put it? If they're not going to help plan the lessons and they don't help teach the lessons, what other choice do I have? Should I just fail spectacularly once in the hopes that it might convince them to stop leaving everything up to me? Maybe my constant delivery of mediocrity is making them too comfortable. They don't need quality lessons because I'm giving them bland, good-enough lessons without all the bother of having a conversation with me beforehand or, you know, actually teaching their own students. Similarly, I don't want to turn into a proactive taskmaster, calling schools on my own time to convince them to do their jobs, because I assume that will make them do even less on their own. I genuinely believe at this point that there is an inverse relationship between the amount of effort I put in and their reciprocal behavior.
On Monday I have to go back to the tiny mountain school for the first time in over a year. As you might expect, the only I reason I knew I was going there was because I was nosy and I started asking a lot of questions about a note written on the blackboard at my regular Monday school. Turns out they've decided to alternate my lessons between the two schools. Why this information wouldn't be brought to my immediate attention, I have no idea. Again, the meeting took place when I wasn't around, so I did not exist at the time.
But hey, at least the week ended very well. Yesterday I went to the good school and we went on a field trip. The entire student body and a dozen teachers took a long walk up into the mountains and back again. We took frequent breaks, but we were definitely on our feet for at least four hours during the six and a half we were out of the building. I had a lot of fun and the whole outing reminded me of how good things can be when schools welcome me and treat me as a person. This is the same school that regularly invites me to after-work meals - there's one coming up this Tuesday, in fact.
It also helps that I have a very good relationship with the students at this school, although there were a few odd moments yesterday. More than one student expressed shock at hearing me speak Japanese. While I do try to speak as much English as possible in class (a luxury I have only when I get to be the assistant rather than the sole teacher), I have been eating lunch and playing outside with these kids for over a year. I don't use much English at all during those times, yet somehow they've managed to forget all about those Pokemon conversations we've had. There was also one kid who started calling me gaijin and I had to explain to him why that was rude. And the weirdest exchange of all came after one of the new first graders learned I was an American:
Boy: "Do you like war?"
Me: "No, no one likes that!"
Boy: "Then why does America fight wars?"
Me: (declining to explain that I do not get to choose when and how America fights in wars) "Nobody likes war, not even those who fight in them."
But kids will be kids, and I ain't mad at 'em. I figure each time we have to get to know each other over again, we get a little bit closer. I took lots of pictures of the excursion, both with my phone and my regular camera. The small images are visible on my twitpic page while an assortment of the larger ones are in this album on Facebook.
After that very physically demanding day, I went out after dinner to a pub quiz in Osaka. I had gone to a number of these in months past, though last night was my first in quite some time. Things got off to a really great start when I came up with a prize-winning team name. The theme was Australia and New Zealand, and the first thing I thought of was "A Dingo Ate My Kiwi." From there, things stayed solid with a round based entirely on guessing the titles of movies from "literal" drawings. For example, a jar of preserves in orbit = Space Jam. We faltered a bit on the later rounds, and half of our team vanished before the game ended (that happens to me a lot) but we still won with 27 of 42 possible points. The prize was a bottle of cider, but it didn't last because in an instant there were strangers eager to share a glass with me. It's not about the prize anyway, it was about having fun and having a couple drinks. Mission Totally Accomplished!
Took it very easy today, thanks in small part to a downpour that lasted well into the afternoon, but that's OK. I'm a bit pink from being in the sun anyway. I'll leave the house again tomorrow. Don't worry about me, by the way. I complain when things get rough around here but as yesterday shows, the highs more than make up for the lows.
Labels: frustration, JET, Osaka, teaching, workout
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